#France on the brink: “Either we topple the system or it will crush us!” Translated statement from French radicals

Things are rapidly hotting up in France. The Gilets Jaunes or Yellow Vests (Yellow Jackets, EIE) movement, which started as a protest of hard-up working people against spiralling petrol prices, has transformed itself into a full-on uprising against the neoliberal regime of President Emmanuel Macron.

Contrary to all that we’ve been hearing, the mystery is not that we are rising up but that we haven’t done so before. The abnormality isn’t in what we are doing now, but in what we have put up with so far. Who can deny that the system has failed on all accounts? Who still wants to be fleeced, robbed, reduced to precarity for nothing? Who is going to shed any tears over the fact that posh areas of Paris are being looted by the poor or that the bourgeoisie have seen their shiny new 4X4s go up in flames? As for Macron, he should stop complaining since it was him that suggested we come and see him. A State cannot claim to draw legitimacy from the corpse of a “glorious revolution” only to moan about vandalism when a revolution gets underway.

The situation is simple: the people want the system to fall. The system intends to keep going. This defines the situation as insurrectional, as the police themselves are now admitting. The people have numbers, courage, joy, intelligence and naivety. The state has the army, the police, the media, cunning and the fears of the bourgeoisie. Since November 17, the people have used two complementary levers: blocking the economy and the assault carried out every Saturday against the administrative centre of Paris. These levers are complementary because the economy is the reality of the system, while the government is the symbolic representation. To really bring the system down, both of these must be attacked. This applies to Paris as to the rest of the country: setting fire to a local préfecture and marching on the centre of power are one and the same gesture.

Every Saturday since November 17 in Paris, the people have been magnetized by the same objective: marching on the government’s inner sanctuaries. From Saturday to Saturday the difference consists firstly of the enormous increase in the police numbers deployed to prevent the march and secondly the accumulation of experience from the failure of the previous Saturday. If there were lots more people wearing swimming goggles and gas masks this Saturday, it was not because “groups of organised thugs” had “infiltrated the demo” but simply because the people had been extensively gassed the previous week and drew from that the conclusions that anyone with any sense would have drawn: come equipped next time around. In any case, this is not about a demonstration but an uprising.

If tens of thousands of people invaded the central Parisian area of Tuileries-Saint Lazare-Étoile-Trocadéro, it wasn’t because of a strategy of harassment decided by certain groups but because of people’s collective tactical intelligence in the face of the police deployment stopping them from reaching their goal. Blaming the “ultra-left” for this attempted uprising doesn’t fool anyone: if the ultra-left had been capable of driving construction machinery to charge the police lines or destroy motorway toll booths, we would have known about it; if it had been so numerous, so likeable, so courageous, we would have known about it. With its essentially identity-based concerns, this “ultra-left” is deeply embarrassed by the impurity of the gilets jaunes movement; the truth is that it doesn’t know which way to turn, that it has a bourgeois-like fear of compromising itself by mingling with this crowd that doesn’t in with any of its categories.

As for the “ultra-right” it has been sandwiched between its supposed means and ends: it promotes disorder while claiming to want order, it throws stones at the national police while declaring its love for the police and the nation, it wants to cut off the head of the republican monarch through love of a non-existent king. On all these matters, we are going to leave the Minister of the Interior to his ridiculous ravings. It isn’t the radicals who make the movement, it’s the movement that radicalises people. Who could believe that they are thinking about imposing a state of emergency against a handful of hooligans?

Those who do insurrections by half are only digging their own graves. At the point we are at, with today’s means of repression, either we topple the system or it will crush us. It would be a serious error of judgement to underestimate this government’s level of radicalisation. Anyone who sets themselves up, in the days ahead, as a mediator between the people and the government will be torn to pieces: nobody wants to be represented any more, we are all big enough to speak for ourselves, to notice who is trying to us calm us down, who is trying to recuperate us. And even if the government takes a step backwards, it will only be proving that we are right to have done what we have done, that our methods are the right ones.

Next week will therefore be decisive: either even more of us manage to stop the economic machine by blocking ports, refineries, stations, distribution centres etc, by really taking the government’s inner sanctuaries and its regional offices next Saturday, or we are lost. Next Saturday, the marches for the climate, which start from the principle that those who led us into this catastrophe aren’t going to get us out of it, have no reason not to join us in the streets. We are a hair’s breadth away from the breakdown of the machinery of government. Either we succeed in the coming months to bring about the necessary change of course, or the coming apocalypse will be twice as heavy, with a clamp-down on a scale scarcely hinted at so far on social media.

The question is therefore: what does it actually mean to bring down the system? It is clear that it doesn’t mean electing new representatives because the failure of the current régime is also the failure of the system of representation. Bringing down the system means taking over locally, community by community, the entire physical and symbolic organisation of life, for it is precisely the current organisation of life that is in question, that is itself the catastrophe.

We mustn’t be afraid of the unknown: millions of people have never been seen to let themselves die of starvation. Just as we are all capable of organising ourselves horizontally to block roads, so we are capable of organising ourselves for a more sensible way of living. Just as it is locally that the revolt is being organised; so it is locally that the solutions will be found. The “national” level is only the echo of local initiatives.

We are fed up with having to count every penny. The rule of the economy is the rule of misery because it is the rule of calculation. What is beautiful on the road blocks, in the streets, in everything we have been doing these past three weeks, and which means that in a way we have already won, is that we have stopped counting because we have started to count on each other. When the issue is one of communal salvation, the question of the legal ownership of life’s infrastucture becomes a detail. The difference between the people and those who govern them is that the people aren’t a bunch of wankers.

Support our independent reporting. For instance by ordering one of the Burning Xmas tree items shop (Click at the image below):

Support Enough is Enough! Donate!

Donation for our work in the Enough is Enough info-shop and our independent reporting on our blog and social media channels.

5 thoughts on “#France on the brink: “Either we topple the system or it will crush us!” Translated statement from French radicals”

If only the British people had the courage of the French working people. When the British riot yhey smash shops and loot goods to ape the bourgeoisie in thier appearences and objects or possessions . When the French people revolt they seek only to re-posess democracy !!
Vive la revolution!!
Non Passarans!!

I am not qualified to pass comment on this issue other than to say people should read their history more closely. The French Revolution was far from glorious. In fact it was hijacked and used for bloody reprisals where percieved enemies were slaughtered in their tens of thousands. Anarchy may be a French option but be very careful what you wish for.

“ I am not qualified enough-‚ We are all qualified to have an opinion….Your comment is a cop-out…Means yu dont have to get involved or come under the radar of — discontented with abuse by governments … Most people have read or studied the “ French Revolution to some degree…. no need to hide behind history in order to step up…. God help anyone who has to rely on you for support.

Deliveroo strike.png A report from the New Syndicalist blog, discussing the recent Deliveroo riders' strike in Manchester. Workers that other workers look up to, listen to and follow are important. Get them on board, and you have a company on the run and a city that’s stopped to listen to you – if only for […]

51984801_2311316809112987_4342762233235767296_n.jpg Care workers employed by care provider Alternative Futures Group (AFG) have recently voted on industrial action in a Unison organised ballot over the long-running, sleep-in dispute. Ballots have now been counted, and 87.4% voted to strike on a 51.5% turnout. read more

LA-strike-assembly2-700x380.jpg Members of Black Rose/Rosa Negra – Los Angeles who were involved in community mobilization in support of the strike and as members of UTLA provide their summary and analysis. The article highlights the community-worker nature of the strikes demands, the conditions of the settlement, the pitfalls of union leadership and labor law, as well […]

London Stansted.jpg Stansted 15: Defendants call for terror convictions to be quashed and hostile environment dismantled These terror convictions and the ten-week trial that led to them are an injustice that has profound implications for our lives... Yet, people seeking asylum in this country face worse than this: they are placed... in limbo, by the […]

Aotearoa Workers' Solidarity Movement (AWSM) interviews NZ-based social activist Alex Pirie. He discusses his personal circumstances as well as local, regional, national and international issues. "So many individual issues tie into one big thing" "So many individual issues tie into one big thing"

The post Education, Infrastructure, Insurrection: Mark Bray on Francisco Ferrer and the Modern School appeared first on It's Going Down. On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we welcome back to the program Mark Bray, an anarchist, a historian, and author of Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook and Translating Anarchy. In his new new book, […]

The post #BlockTheWall Hits the Streets As Anger Grows Against Trump appeared first on It's Going Down. #BlockTheWall actions kicked off this week in response to Trump’s so-called emergency orders, which are attempting to plunder even more money for wall construction on the border. The current push by Trump is happening at a time of […]

The post Lehigh Valley, PA: #BlockTheWall Banner Drop appeared first on It's Going Down. The following report and photos were sent anonymously to It’s Going Down. Lines in the Sand. Glimpses at confrontation. We stand on the edge with immigrants, climate change refugees, and all oppressed and working people of the world against the current […]

The post San Francisco, CA: Video and Report Back from #BlockTheWall March appeared first on It's Going Down. Report back from #BlocktheWall march in San Francisco, CA. Students, community members, and workers of the California Bay Area have directly responded to the call to action from the network including It’s Going Down and many others. […]

The post Far Right Yellow Vests Convoy Rolls into Ottawa: Met with Resistance appeared first on It's Going Down. Report on how Native warriors, antifascists, and anti-capitalists are mobilizing to push back against the Canadian manifestation of the “Yellow Vests,” which has taken on a fascistic turn in support of pipelines and against indigenous struggle. […]

The post Laval Migrant Prison: Noise Demo Blocks Site Visit appeared first on It's Going Down. Report on evolving campaign to stop the construction of a migrant detention center in Laval. Much of the ground may be covered in a thick sheet of ice right now, and piles of snow have been growing around the […]

The post Update: West Virginia Walkouts Beats Back Neoliberal Education Bill appeared first on It's Going Down. #55Strong update on the Omnibus Bill walkouts from a West Virginia teacher Michael Mochaidean, also of the IWW. On Monday, February 17th, Presidents of the three major education unions in West Virginia announced a statewide walkout by union […]

The post The Fires of El Mapa appeared first on It's Going Down. Commotion.world offers another dispatch from the struggle and unfolding situation at the US/Mexico border. It was here [in El Mapa] that just last week—last Tuesday, February 12th—police seized the tents, clothing, and blankets of El Mapa’s residents, piled them high in the […]

The post Mexico: Indigenous Land Defender, Samir Flores Soberanes, Assassinated appeared first on It's Going Down. This communiqué comes from the People’s Front in Defense of Land and Water, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala. It condemns the assassination of Indigenous land defender and community radio worker, Samir Flores Soberanes, amidst attempts to push through the megaproject, “Integral […]

The post Update: Witness to Police Killing in CT Bonded Out appeared first on It's Going Down. Revolutionary Abolitionist Movement (RAM) – Elm City reports on the ongoing campaign to bail out two young people who were witness to the police killing of their friend. Listen to an interview on This Is America about the […]

What's the relationship between anarchism and art? How do we create the kind of world we want to see? And how we learn to believe that we are "good enough?" In this episode, Alley and Rhyd talk with guest Margaret Killjoy and share stories of how they became who they are.

While many people have begun to use Globalization and Globalism inter-changeably, they are absolutely not the same thing. In this episode, Alley & Rhyd discuss the damage done by global Capital, the history of Globalization, the anti-semitic conspiracy theories of Globalism, and the solution: Internationalism.

"I have met my own people, and I hate them all." --Claudia, from Interview With The Vampire In this episode, Alley and Rhyd discuss their own journeys into Paganism and witchcraft and how they differed radically from the "business" of Paganism and witchcraft in America.

Alley and Rhyd discuss the problems of nationalism and explore the important differences between indigenous and colonized people's struggles for national independence and the far right and white nationalist struggles, and the role of global capitalism in the destruction of cultural differences.

What’s an Egregore? What’s an egregore got to do with America? And what really happened to the dude who made KONY2012? In the sixth episode Alley Valkyrie and Rhyd Wildermuth discuss how the ingredients of the ritual that manifested American make it impossible to change, and discuss how an egregoric understanding can inform resistance and […]

Why is being a "witch" suddenly popular? What does the rise of the witch identity mean for actual witches? Why our capitalists trying to sell us stuff? And what are the dangers of this trend? In Episode 4: The Witch, Alley Valkyrie and Rhyd Wildermuth look at the questions (and try to keep their focus […]

In this episode, Alley Valkyrie & Rhyd Wildermuth discuss this current crisis of Capitalism, how Trump and other opportunists exploit this crisis (and are much smarter than you think), and how all of this has created the material conditions for civil unrest, fascism, and its socialist opposition.

From Anti-Fascist News On Tuesday, February 19, 2019, a convoy made up of hundreds of semi-trucks, pickups, cars, and buses rolled into Ottawa for a protest against the Liberal federal government. Dubbed the United We Roll Convoy, the protest originated in Alberta ostensibly to protest the federal government’s policies on the oil industry and to […]

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our friend, comrade, and local 28 Fellow Defender Dave Vasey. An outspoken advocate for environmental justice, anti-fascist organizing, and decolonization, Dave dedicated his life to fighting against state and corporate powerhouses that he saw as a threat to the working class, and to […]

Anonymous submission made to North-Shore Counter Info. Note: Both of the document links posted here are external links to a NoBlogs site where files are hosted with other information. That site (seedingresistance.noblogs.org) states that each file was generated from an acquired internal/uncensored hard copy and have had metadata removed. Other link sources and warning are […]

Currently, pro-pipeline reactionaries are planning a truck convoy from Alberta to Ottawa. This intended show of force is meant to pressure the federal government into taking more forceful actions to get major new oil and gas pipelines built. At a time when Indigenous peoples are heroically resisting massive industrialization in the Pacific Northwest, we must […]

Late last night as many had their eyes glued to screens cheering on the Patriots in the Superbowl, a small crew of pals got busy taking on one symbol of so-called Canada's nationalism: the RCMP. Within just minutes a handful of determined folks had destroyed all electronic keypad entries to the building, filled the manual […]

Received on 19/11/2018: The second issue of Paper Chained has been published online. This is a journal that supports publication of writings and artistic expressions from people affected by incarceration. Click here to download the PDF, and visit the blog of Running Wild here to read more. […]

Received on 16/11/2018: A banner tied in Yogyakarta, reading: “SOLIDARITY WITH ALL ANARCHIST AND ANTI-FASCIST IN RUSSIA, LONG LIVE ANARCHY! MIKHAIL”. Anarchists and Anti-Fascists in Russia have faced a wave of repression from the State following an action carried out by a 17-year-old young anarchist named Mikhail Zhlobitsky who blew himself up at the Arkhangelsk […]

Received on 10/11/2018; for the case of Mikhail Zhlobitsky check here and here:Narrm / Melbourne so-called Australia: Graffiti mural in memory of 17 year old Russian Anarchist-Communist Mikhail Zhlobitsky who died while carrying out an explosive attack against the FSB (Federal Security Service) Regional Headquarters in Arkhangelsk, Russia on October 31st. “Never Forget Our Fallen […]

sent 11/1/18 They are facing potential incarceration for helping migrants in danger in the French Alps. Bastien, Benoit, Eléonora, Juan, Lisa, Mathieu et Théo will face justice on November 8th in Gap. They are prosecuted for «helping undocument foreign nationals to enter national territory, in organized gang”. The envisaged […]